In the first half of the nineteenth century population and settlement in Söke

Ottoman Empire had started to lose its power as from 17th century especially on the military and financial issues. Within that period, rulers of the state noticed that these tahrir registers were away from giving reliable information; therefore they decided to take a new population census and to record the census via new registers which include all male population of the country for adressing the needs of the new established army and the financial necessities of the state. The primary sources of this study are these registers. These registers are hold in Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü Osmanlı Arşivi, as follows: NFS.d. 2903, 2906, 2908, 2956, 2957, 2958, 2959, 2960, 40068, 2965 Söke nüfus (population) registers and D.CRD. d. 39903, 39991, NFS.d. 2965, NFS.d. 3188 icmal registers. These registers contain population censuses of Söke kazası of Sığla sancağı which had been made in 1830\31-1840\41. In this study, above mentioned registers were transcribed, compiled and tried to be interpreted. Thus, characters and settlement of muslim and non-muslim population who reside in Söke in the first half of the 19th century is evaluated. Besides, in this study, governing structure of Söke in the 19th century will be introduced. Keywords: 19th Century, governing structure of Söke, Söke, Sığla, Population, Census.